Given the Democrats’ healthy majority in the chamber, Ms. Kagan, the former dean of Harvard Law School, never looked to have much trouble gaining Senate approval. But according to C-SPAN’s count, Ms. Kagan has the filibuster-proof support of 60 senators — including five Republicans — with a small number of lawmakers yet to commit either way.

Proposition 8: Speaking of the Supreme Court, with a federal judge striking down California’s Proposition 8 on Wednesday, eyes are turning toward the court in the battle over same-sex marriage.

The Times’s John Schwartz writes that the “careful logic and structure of Judge Vaughn R. Walker’s opinion” could make it harder for the Supreme Court to come down against same-sex marriage. That’s because the judge’s opinion “lays a rich factual record,” and legal experts say findings of fact are more difficult to overturn than findings of law, Mr. Schwartz writes.

As for President Obama, Politico’s Josh Gerstein declares that the Proposition 8 ruling could throw a wrench in his strategy of shunting social issues off to the side. During his presidential campaign, Mr. Obama opposed the California measure, but he has also said that he is against same-sex marriage. And according to Mr. Gerstein, gay activists are a bit unsure about that “nuanced position.”

Midterm Madness: Tennessee voters go to the polls today, with the Republican primary for governor having grabbed a fair bit of attention. Mayor Bill Haslam of Knoxville, United States Representative Zach Wamp and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey are all vying for the party’s nomination.

Tennessee also has its fair share of contested House primaries, including in two districts where Democrats are retiring and Republicans see pick-up opportunities. In a majority-black district based in Memphis, Representative Steve Cohen, who is white, is looking to turn away a primary challenge from Willie Herenton, a former mayor of Memphis who is black.

Meanwhile, President Obama continues a quick visit to his hometown, Chicago, a day after celebrating his 49th birthday by having dinner with Oprah Winfrey and others. The president is expected to attend a fund-raiser for Alexi Giannoulias, who is trying to keep Mr. Obama’s old Senate seat in the Democrats’ hands, and is also scheduled to raise money for the Democratic National Committee.

With the president in town, The Washington Post’s Peter Slevin takes stock of the race between Mr. Giannoulias and Representative Mark S. Kirk, a campaign in which both candidates have faced their share of hiccups. The White House, Mr. Slevin finds, is keeping a close eye on the race, with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presidential adviser David Axelrod and the strategist David Plouffe all offering assistance. The Chicago Sun-Times’s Abdon M. Pallasch reports that the Giannoulias camp hopes to raise $1 million from Thursday’s fund-raiser.

In Colorado, The Times’s Kirk Johnson takes a look at a historically Republican county that went Democrat in 2008 — and an area where, even though the economy never took the nose dive it did in other places, fear lingers. “The big question of the November midterm election, as well as next week’s Colorado primary, is whether that abiding fear will overcome the relatively healthy economy here, and sweep away the same Democrats it benefited in the last election — no matter that the malls and restaurants seem full,” Mr. Johnson writes.

Up on the Hill: With the Senate having set the stage for passage of a $26 billion package of aid to states and school districts, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Wednesday that she was bringing members back from their summer recess next week to vote on final approval. As The Times’s David M. Herszenhorn reports, the measure had been stuck in the Senate, with Democrats calling it crucial and Republicans objecting to more spending.

Looking down the line, The Times’s Jackie Calmes finds that the debate over whether to let the Bush tax cuts for the rich expire will probably start in September — and not in a lame-duck session after the November elections, as some had predicted. Still, some of the back-and-forth has already begun, Ms. Calmes writes: “Republicans, emboldened by President Obama’s slipping support in the polls, charge that Democrats are advocating a big tax increase; Democrats counter that Republicans are shilling for the wealthy and driving up the national debt.”

G.O.P. Divide?: Some top Senate Republicans want to review the 14th Amendment, which says that anyone born in the United States, including children of illegal immigrants, is a citizen. Nonetheless, the Republican National Committee lists the amendment’s passage as one of the party’s accomplishments.

Administration Daybook: Also on tap for the president in the Chicago area on Thursday is a tour of a Ford assembly plant.

President Obama drew criticism on Thursday when he said, “we don’t have a strategy yet,” for military action against ISIS in Syria. Lawmakers will weigh in on Mr. Obama’s comments on the Sunday shows.Read more…